> Muslim Response Critical Analysis of Biblical God

[salman]

:

Muslim Response and critical analysis of Biblical God and His nature in the light of verses from the Bible. Christians commonly say that their God is very loving and kind; if you accept Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as your saviour then all of your sins will be forgiven and Jesus (peace be upon him) will take your sins; they also say Bible preaches love your enemies. However, a sound minded person should ask himself, is this really true? Maybe or maybe not!

The purpose of this discussion is to critically analyze the Biblical God and His nature while covering the views of both of the main Christianity schools: Trinitarians and Unitarians. I'm going to try my best to note to quote anything out of context or anything which we Muslims also agree on because I don't want to end up exposing myself by committing the same mistake as many Islamophobes and hate-mangors do. As far concerning the translation of the Bible, I'll be using 21st Century King James version.

Praise to be Allah Ta'ala, the Lord of the seven heavens and seven earths, He is not like anything and He is clear from what they attribute to him.

Note: Due to my busy schedule, this thread will be updated over period of time; therefore, until I finish my response, the thread will be locked.

1 - How does Biblical God punish people?
2 - Biblical God repents/regrets His decisions
3 - The loving Biblical God's evil nature
4 - Biblical God Orders Rape of Women
5 - God Tempted by Satan
6 - Biblical God orders killing of innocents and beating slaves

[salman]

How does Biblical God punish people?

I'm sure a person can quote numerous events from the Bible but just to keep it short and to make it easier for Christians, I'll only talk about two such events.

1 - Eli and his two sons.

In 1st Samuel Chapter 2 Verses 12-29, we learn that Eli's two sons, who were somewhat priests, committed sins as they used to eat all of the good stuff from the sacrifices, sleep with women etc. Eli asked them why they do it but he didn't pressure them to stop. Meanwhile, Samuel was loved by God due to his good character. Eventually, a man came to Eli and prophseized him the following:

Verse 30: Therefore the LORD God of Israel saith: 'I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before Me for ever.' But now the LORD saith, 'Be it far from Me; for them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

Verse 31: Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

Verse 32: And thou shalt see an enemy in My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

Verse 33: And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from Mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart; and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

Talk about all loving and just God; the Biblical God punishes Eli and his family's decedents by killing them at a young age and abandoning them forever from priesthood due to Eli and his sons' sins. For example, if you're Eli's descendant then no matter what you do, you can never become a priest and will die at a young age. Even if you accept Jesus (peace be upon him) as your saviour and repent everyday, you're blameworthy for what your ancestor Eli and his sons did. Well, Christians might not have problem with this because they already believe in the original sin.

Now, the million dollar questions is how can a Loving and Just God punish people for something which they never did?

2 - Prophet David (peace be upon him) Committing Adultery

In 2nd Samuel Chapter 11 we read that Prophet David (peace be upon him) committed adultery with the wife of one of his loyal soldiers, impregnated her, later he sent the solider to the battle to die and married his wife. So in Chapter 12, the Lord sent a messenger to tell David (peace be upon him) about the punishment of his sin. Let's read loving Biblical God's "loving", "fair" and "just" punishment:

Verse 10: Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised Me and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.'

Verse 11: "Thus saith the LORD: `Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

Verse 12: For thou did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.'"

Verse 13: And David said unto Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said unto David, "The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."

Verse 14: However, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born unto thee shall surely die."

We Muslims consider this story and so called historical account a fabrication because Allah Ta'ala protects His Prophets and Messengers from falling into major sins or not conveying His true message to people.Thus, we consider this a great blasphemy and slander against the noble character of Prophet Dao'oud (David - 'alayhi as-salam). Anyway, for now let's look at other problems:

1 - Biblical God not following the commandments he revealed

According to the ten commandments, adultery is a grave sin "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." [Leviticus 20:10]. So, what happened in David's (peace be upon him) case? Why was he and his new wife not put to death? Some may argue that he repented and became humble but that still doesn't solve the problem because according to Verse 14 his action was no secret anymore; thus, the punishment must have been carried. Why did God not follow the law He revealed? Rather, the Biblical God came up with nonsensical, unjust punishment:

2 - Biblical God said he would punish David (peace be upon him) by making other men have sex with his wives in public

Why did the "just" Biblical God say that He would humiliate them in front of public by making other men have sex with them? What did other poor wives of David (peace be upon him) had to do with David's (peace be upon him) sin? And the Biblical God mentions this twice! Can Biblical God get any worst than this? I don't think you'll be surprised:

3 - Killing the new born infant because the enemies insulted God adue to David's (peace be upon him) action.

So the "loving" and "just" Biblical God said to David (peace be upon him) that instead of killing him, He will kill his infant baby because due to his action the enemies insulted God. I can understand that if people commit sins then Allah Ta'ala can punish them in this world by testing them with different trials (i.e. taking away their wealth, killing them etc). I can also understand that if people mock Allah Ta'ala then He can punish them in this world. However, I can't understand why would the "loving" and "just" biblical God kill an infant baby because due to someone's action some other people mocked the God?

In Conclusion

We've seen two examples of how the "loving" and "just" Biblical God punish people! In the first incident, due to Eli and his two sons' sins, the descendants of Eli's family are bound to die at young age and can never ever become priest. In the second incident, the Biblical God went against His own revealed law, killed Prophet David's (peace be upon him) infant baby, failed to protect His Prophet and last but not least came up with a nonsensical punishment of making other men have sex with David's (peace be upon him) wives in public.

Praise to be Allah Ta'ala, the Lord of the seven heavens and seven earths, Who rose above the heavens over His Throne in a manner that suits His Glory and Majesty; He is clear from what they attribute to Him. This concludes the first part and more is to come.

Wallahu A'lam (and Allah knows best).

[salman]

Biblical God repents/regrets His decisions

In 1 Samuel Chapter 15, Verses 1 - 9, we learn that the Biblical god ordered Saul (the King of Israelite) to attack their enemies and annihilate everything: "Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***[donkeys].'" [1 Samuel 15:3]. However, Saul and his men saved some of the good food for themselves and didn't obey the commands of "loving" Biblical God. As a result, the Biblical God spoke to Samuel; thus showing, He is not the Lord of the seven heavens and seven earths:

Verse 10: Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
Verse 11: "I repent that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following Me and hath not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the LORD all night.

So didn't the "loving" Biblical God know that Saul would not follow His commands? Why did He chose Him as a king in the first place? Why does Biblical God repent/regret His decisions? Can someone worship a God who apologizes to His creation for His decisions? What happened to the all prefect and mighty God?

When I put forward these questions to a Christian, he gave me a link to a poorly written article, which we'll debunk later on, insha'Allah.

Praise to be Allah Ta'ala, the Lord of the seven heavens and seven earths, Who rose above the heavens over His Throne in a manner that suits His Glory and Majesty; He is clear from what they attribute to Him. This concludes the second part and more is to come.

Wallahu A'lam (and Allah knows best).